NBA Fantasy: Marcus Camby, Deron Williams, Rudy Fernandez

Line of the Night: The Pacers were at Golden State last night, so it’s not a surprise that Danny Granger (2.21) takes the LotN with 32 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals. He also had 7 turnovers in the game, but the rest of the line was so good that it made up for his carelessness. And since I don’t have much more to add, is Carmelo Anthony really that different from Danny Granger?

Honorable Mentions: It was only a matter of time, right? News broke yesterday that Marcus Camby has partially torn meniscus in his left knee. He’s about to become the fifth Blazers’ player this year to have knee surgery (I wonder if they have a buy 10 knee surgeries, get the 11th one free card). Camby is expected to miss over a month following the surgery.

So, which player is going to pick up the slack while he’s out? Dante Cunningham? Nah. Joel Przybilla? Don’t be silly. Try Nicolas Batum (2.02), who got 43 minutes of run, scoring 24 points with 6 rebounds and a couple steals. Batum and LaMarcus Aldridge are going to be logging some heavy minutes over the next month while the Blazers desperately try to hang onto the 8th playoff seed in the West. Take advantage fantasy owners. If your league is one of the 26% where Batum is still available, grab him now.

After stating in my post last night that there is no way Przybilla (0.14) gets 30 minutes a game (because he’s an injury waiting to happen), he gets 29 and a half minutes off the bench, pulling down 11 boards and a block, but also going 0-2 from the field and scoring 0 points. Cunningham (0.11) got the start and played 26 minutes, finishing with 6 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and a block. We’re not in love with either of those guys here at GMTR, although I think Przybilla makes the better fantasy play out of the two.

***

Deron Williams (1.95) seems to be I guy I’m writing about every other day. In a loss to the Nets last night, he had a 20 and 10 (assists) with 3 steals. On the season, Williams has increased his scoring by nearly 4 points a game compared to last year and he’s also hitting more threes while shooting the same percentage. It’s good enough to put him at #5 on the GMTR player rater for the season.

Also in that game, Andrei Kirilenko (1.89) scored 17 points, almost entirely off free throws (he was 13-14 from the line) adding 8 rebounds, 4 steals, and a couple of blocks. Considering the Nets best performance came from Sasha Vujacic, how the hell did the Nets win this game?

Jason Kidd (1.81) scored 21 in a win over the Lakers, adding 5 threes and 10 assists. Kidd is shooting a horrible 34.7% from the field this season, although he is hitting 33% of his threes. Kidd doesn’t take a ton of shots a game so it’s not a deal breaker for fantasy owners, but he might want to think about holstering that two point shot and just exclusively start shooting threes.

The Nets are done pursuing Carmelo Anthony (1.62) to focus on winning (yes, that is what they are going with). I’m sure Melo is cool with that and he celebrated the good news with 35 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals against OKC.

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: I already said Sasha Vujacic’s (1.69) name once, don’t make me say it again. The pride of Slovenia got 30 minutes off the bench for the Nets and scored 15 points, adding 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals. With Anthony Morrow expected back at the end of this week, Vujacic is going to find himself in squeezed for minutes, so I wouldn’t add him right now.

Pick Up Lines: Connecting Marcus Camby’s injury to Rudy Fernandez (1.57) is like playing six degrees of separation (I’m sure Kevin bacon is involved), but Fernandez did get 28 minutes off the bench last night and was 3-7 from three, scoring 13 points with 5 assists and 3 steals. He’s available in over 90% of Yahoo leagues and is worth a speculative add to see if he gets more minutes as the Blazers go with a small lineup.

Please guys. Do Nels a favor and pickup Ersan Ilyasova (1.14), will you? Drew Gooden’s foot isn’t doing any better and Carlos Delfino has been out three years with a concussion, so the Bucks’ PF minutes have been falling on Ilyasova. In a start against the Wizards, Ilyasova only scored 9 points, but added 9 rebounds and 4 steals.

Daniel Gibson (1.08) was back in the lineup for the Cavs, scoring 16 points on 4-6 from three. He’s owned in 45% of Yahoo leagues and if he was dropped in your league while he was injured, now is a good time to pick him up. Also with Mo Williams out for at least a couple of weeks with a hip strain, Ramon Sessions (1.13) makes a strong pickup as well. Sessions got the start at PG and scored 19 points with 8 assists and 3 steals. The way Mo’s season is going, I would not be surprised if he was out a while.

Samuel Dalembert (0.80) had a 15 and 12 with 2 blocks against Dante Cunningham’s Blazers. It was his first double-double in a month, so excuse me if I’m not buying it.

Two guys I like, but don’t love: In his fourth game back from injury, Chuck Hayes (1.55) did a valiant job guarding Amare and also put up a decent line himself: 8 points, 12 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. I wouldn’t rely on him too heavily, but I think he’ll make a decent plug and play guy if you’re dealing with injuries at center. Earl Boykins (1.20) – who had 19 points and 4 assists – is another plug and play guy at PG as long as Brandon Jennings is out.

Biggest Loser: Dwight “Destroyer of Free Throw Percentages” Howard (-1.14), was 10-22 from the line in an OT win over the Sixers. He did have 18 points and 7 rebounds (and 4 TOs), which might not be vintage DH, but at least it’s decent.

Instead, a line with no decency is Paul Millsap’s (-1.01) 6 points, 5 rebounds and 0 assists against the Nets. Millsap was 3-9 from the field and struggled on the night with foul problems. I’m beginning to see how the Jazz lost that game…